See Editor's Note, at left or bottom, for more information on the news gathering process for the previously published story referenced in this letter.
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Dear editor,
This is in response to "Consolidating North Okaloosa fire districts would have numerous benefits, officials say,” an article published in the Feb. 13-16, 2016 edition of the Crestview News Bulletin.
Unfortunately, many statements were made that did not represent our district’s position.
Our first issue is with Okaloosa County Commissioner Wayne Harris' published statement, "you cross-utilize resources. You can buy in bulk and get a better deal.”
We already have this system in place, using the North Okaloosa Fire Chiefs Association, which was chartered in April 2007. Each fire district in the county’s north end, including Blackman, Holt, Almarante, Baker and Crestview, have regular representation in this group. Florida Forest Service members, as well as the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, are also regular attendees at this monthly forum.
During this forum, coordination occurs for group equipment purchases and training opportunities, and ideas to share resources for the represented fire districts.
Unfortunately, the North Okaloosa, Dorcas and Laurel Hill fire districts do not attend these monthly meetings. We have encouraged their chiefs to participate in this forum.
Regarding Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles' comments about our "struggle with compliance costs mandated by state legislature," referencing the annual audit cost, this expense is part of our operational budget. In fact, consolidation of fire resources in the north end may escalate costs to community members if the Insurance Services Office ratings change, resulting in an increase in homeowners insurance rates. Unfortunately, this information was not reported and conveyed to the citizens of our district.
Of particular concern is your section regarding fire chiefs' position on consolidating fire districts.
Unfortunately, Baker Fire District Chief Dusty Talbert was never contacted regarding his position. We are also aware that another north-end fire district chief was never contacted, and a third chief was contacted but his statements opposing this proposition were not published.
It is very disappointing that you created a position from only a select few chiefs without discussing these issues through the established North Okaloosa Fire Chiefs Association.
By not contacting the NOFCA, you also neglected to correctly report on the consolidated training taking place throughout the county’s north end. Baker Fire District is listed by the state of Florida as an official training facility. At this time, Baker Fire District is conducting its third Firefighter I training class to certify more local area members through State of Florida Fire Standards. This class is training members from a collection of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County Fire Districts.
Baker Fire District has also recently provided ATV instructor training to members of South Walton Fire Rescue, Okaloosa County fire departments, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, and the Florida Forest Service.
Additionally, we provide basic life support training to fire district and citizens throughout Okaloosa County. Baker Fire District also offers instruction in emergency vehicle operations and traffic incident management, which first-responder personnel throughout Northwest Florida attend.
Finally, the Baker Fire District is the only north-end department certified by the State of Florida in child safety seat installation.
Clearly, a consolidated effort to provide training throughout the north end of Okaloosa County fire districts is already in place and is a marked success!
In the future, we would hope that issues with such great implications impacting our community would be appropriately researched by your staff, and that our fire chief would be contacted before publishing such an article in our community newspaper.
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
The News Bulletin stands by the story referenced in this letter, as published, in the Feb. 13-16 edition.
Despite assertions otherwise, the newspaper contacted all North Okaloosa County fire districts’ main phone numbers, twice, and published all fire chiefs’ responses that arrived by press deadline.
We take seriously our responsibility to provide a fair account, to the best of our knowledge, of all events. The story met that expectation, repeatedly stating “some officials” — not all — say consolidating North Okaloosa fire districts’ resources has its benefits, and noting some opposition exists.
We are not aware of all unions, special interest or other organized groups associated with any profession. In full disclosure, we had never heard of the North Okaloosa Fire Chiefs Association’s existence before receiving this letter. Outside its membership and stakeholders, the organization — respectfully — is not well known. A Google search for the group’s name posts zero results, and no firefighting personnel we interviewed mentioned the association; if they had, we would have contacted the organization.
With that said, we are happy to provide readers more perspective on the consolidation issue by sharing this letter, which is abridged due to the print edition’s space constraints.
And we appreciate hearing about the Baker Fire District’s great strides to better serve our communities, along with its ongoing, commendable teamwork that extends outside Okaloosa’s boundaries.
The News Bulletin stands by the story referenced in this letter, as published, in the Feb. 13-16 edition.
Despite assertions otherwise, the newspaper contacted all North Okaloosa County fire districts’ main phone numbers, twice, and published all fire chiefs’ responses that arrived by press deadline.
We take seriously our responsibility to provide a fair account, to the best of our knowledge, of all events. The story met that expectation, repeatedly stating “some officials” — not all — say consolidating North Okaloosa fire districts’ resources has its benefits, and noting some opposition exists.
We are not aware of all unions, special interest or other organized groups associated with any profession. In full disclosure, we had never heard of the North Okaloosa Fire Chiefs Association’s existence before receiving this letter. Outside its membership and stakeholders, the organization — respectfully — is not well known. A Google search for the group’s name posts zero results, and no firefighting personnel we interviewed mentioned the association; if they had, we would have contacted the organization.
With that said, we are happy to provide readers more perspective on the consolidation issue by sharing this letter, which is abridged due to the print edition’s space constraints.
And we appreciate hearing about the Baker Fire District’s great strides to better serve our communities, along with its ongoing, commendable teamwork that extends outside Okaloosa’s boundaries.
EDITORS NOTE
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Consolidated North Okaloosa fire district training is in place — and successful